


As Long As I Can

by fightforyourwrite



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Flash (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Coping, Gen, Hugs, Post Cry For Justice, Skateboarding, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 15:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15367311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightforyourwrite/pseuds/fightforyourwrite
Summary: Irey loses a friend and Bart tries to help her understand.





	As Long As I Can

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place post Cry For Justice, btw. Post Rise of Arsenal as well.

Bart thinks it’s majorly messed up how often funerals are in his world.

He knows the drill though – he stays silent, listens to the eulogies, and comforts anyone if they really need it. Then what he does afterwards depends highly on the circumstances.

There had been funerals where he stuck around afterwards, preferring to be close to his friends in such an emotional time. 

There were other occasions where the next crisis was just around the corner. In those situations, Bart would run off and investigate. It made sense, seeing as by default, a speedster would be able to respond the fastest.

There was one occasion where none of that happened. Instead of staying by one of his dear friends or running off to fight the next threat, Bart instead headed home. 

The strange thing about funerals was that at the end of it all, no matter what happened, people had lives to return back to. 

Once a funeral on the west coast wrapped up, Bart dashed back to Keystone City as quickly as his two legs could take him. He zipped through the door and right up to his bedroom without even checking to see if either Joan or Jay were home.

Even if they were, Bart’s instincts told him that neither of them would be up for talking anyway. 

A lot had happened at the burial – a lot had been said, implied, and pushed. Every word echoed inside of Bart’s mind. 

In a flash, he changed out of his uniform and into his civilian clothes. He grabbed a grandpa sweater off his bedroom floor and layered it over a flannel button-front. 

Due to prior experiences, Bart knew that there was only one thing he liked to do whenever there was way too much on his mind. So from under his bed, he grabbed his skateboard and dashed downstairs at a normal pace.

Soon enough, Bart was out on the driveway, riding his skateboard back and forth from both ends. Muscle memory kicked in whenever he had the impulse to ollie or kickflip. Some tricks he knew by heart, others he had to do a few times before nailing them perfectly.

One thing Bart liked about skateboarding was the feeling of being in the air. Even without a ramp, he could make time stretch out forever as long as he got off the ground, even just for a second, maybe less. 

In the middle of a kickflip, Bart noticed something while he was airborne. He saw something red in his peripherals. Perhaps it was a mistake to look over and see what it was, because when he looked away from what he was doing with his board, he suddenly lost his footing. 

Time suddenly caught up to him once he realized his fumble. 

_ “Aaaaackk!”  _

Bart tumbled on the ground, his board clattering onto the pavement grip tape side down. He himself landed somewhat awkwardly, doing a bit of a wimpy roll after making impact. 

Lucky for him, nothing hurt much except for his pride.

Bart sat up, rubbing his somewhat aching shoulder. He looked over to see just what had been distracting him. He was only a little surprised to find that it was a rather small girl with rather red hair that was styled into a pair of rather prim pigtails. 

Irey West stood calmly. Her hands were by her side and her eyes were focused on Bart. She looked mostly concerned for her second cousin’s wellbeing. 

“Are you okay, Bart?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine…” he assured. The floofy-haired speedster got up onto his feet and dusted the dirt from his pants. “Whatcha doin’ over here? Don’t you have a curfew or something?”

Irey shook her head, “Nuh-uh, bedtime’s at 8:35.”

“Why 8:35?” 

“Because Looney Tunes ends at 8:30.” 

Nodding slowly, Bart approached her with small steps and asked, “What do you need?” 

“I wanted to check up on you,” Irey claimed, having to glance upwards just to meet Bart’s eyeline. 

Confused, Bart asked, “Why?” 

“Because my dad said you were upset.”

“Why would he think that?”

“Because he said you left Star City really quickly after the funeral.” 

The mention of the funeral wasn’t something Bart expected to hear, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to talk about. Maybe bringing it up was a better than spending his time ignoring the mere thought of it. 

“You were there?” Bart questioned. His instincts told him to tread carefully now. “I didn’t see you.”

Irey shook her head, “No, I wasn’t. Dad didn’t want me to come, he said I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“I don’t think  _ anyone _ was ready to handle it.” 

“Why wouldn’t he want me to come?” asked Irey. She looked at Bart in anticipation for the answer. 

“Because…” Bart started, but suddenly, he realized that he couldn’t think of an answer. “…I don’t know, actually.”

Irey took the response in. After thinking about it for a few moments, she discovered that she found no answers but quite a few more questions instead. 

“Lian was my friend,” Irey continued. There was this wariness in her voice. It was subtle, but it could be noticed if one listened closely enough. “Dad told me about what happened to her last week.” 

There was a glistening in her eyes that Bart couldn’t ignore. He stayed silent for a few seconds, anticipating tears of some sort from her end.

But as waited, he realized that they were not coming. Irey’s eyes still glistened, but she had a degree of control over her emotions. 

Perhaps she had already cried out her fair share of tears beforehand. Perhaps she was all out of them by now. Either way, Bart was not going to press her for more.

“Maybe Wally was- I mean, your dad was looking out for you,” Bart brought up, trying to keep the conversation going. “A funeral’s a heavy thing. At Lian’s, there was just a lot of... crying… and yelling… and…”

It was hard to explain it all. Bart wasn’t sure what to start on. Snippets of Roy’s words and Mia’s tears replayed in his head over and over again. Bart didn’t want to think about it for too long. 

So at the end of it all, the only thing Bart could say was:

“…yeah.” 

A beat, and then suddenly Irey said:

“So Lian’s really gone?”

Bart nodded his head. “Yeah.” 

Irey’s heart sank.

“And she’s never coming back?”

“I don’t think so.”

“But  _ you _ came back.” 

“Yeah, I did. But-”

“So why can’t Lian come back?” 

“I don’t know, but-”

_ “Why can’t  _ _she_ _?!”  _

_ “I don’t know!”  _

In a perfect world, things would be easier to explain, Irey and Bart would be talking over a dinner table surrounded by their friends and family. 

But instead, they stood on Jay Garrick’s driveway, letting the hum of Keystone city play around them. 

Bart thought about many things in that one moment, but one thing he thought about the most was how Irey would handle even more losses in the future. Because some things in their world were simply inevitable. 

“My dad said that Roy’s a mess now,” Irey brought up, now glancing down to the ground. 

“Because Roy loved Lian a lot,” Bart told her, knowing that the fact was absolutely undeniable. “Did you know? Your Mom and Dad were a mess when they thought they lost you and Jai.” 

Irey looked up and had a surprised expression on her face. She had not heard that factoid before.

“They were?”

Bart nodded his head. 

“That makes sense,” Irey agreed, nodding along with him. “Mom said that Dad was a mess when he thought he lost you.”

Bart looked at Irey in disbelief, “He was?!”

Irey nodded her head. There was no hesitation in the way she moved.

Bart wasn’t sure how to react now. Considering the tone of the day, his response could involve a varying degree of negative emotions.

But instead, all Bart could reply with was:

“Oh.” 

“Yeah,” Irey assured. She looked more at ease now. Changing the subject slightly seemed to have a good effect on her. 

“Hey, Bart?” she then asked, her voice now sounding curious. 

“Yeah?”

“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” Irey wondered. She looked up at him with those pretty eyes of hers and waited for an answer. 

“No,” Bart told her in a substantiated, grounded tone. The future was up in the air for him at this point, but there were some things in the present that he knew for sure. “Not for now.” 

“Good,” Irey responded, and then she stepped in and hugged him. 

She wrapped her short, tiny arms around Bart’s waist and held herself as close to him as possible. She grasped on tightly, as if she never wanted to let go. 

“Don’t go anywhere for awhile,” she told him. Her words almost sounded like a plea. “Promise me?” 

Leaning down just slightly, Bart hugged her back. He crouched downwards just enough to have an arm around his shoulder, his free hand stroked her hair. It was only then when Bart realized just how small Irey was. 

“I promise, Irey,” Bart said to her. “I’ll stick around for as long as I can.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Irey West is a staggeringly underused character in the DCU. I feel like there was so much to explore after she became Impulse and the damn reboot cut it short. She barely got any stories after putting on the suit. 
> 
> I'm specifically interested in exploring the dynamic between her and Bart – I've interpreted it as this interesting mix of a brother-sister/student-mentor relationship. 
> 
> Bart gives her some "How To Be Impulse" lessons but also helps her understand what being in the superhero world is like from a personal standpoint. Bart's gone through a lot and he has a good memory, I'm sure he's got an interesting perspective on how things work. 
> 
> As much as I love writing Bart as a quirky oddball, I do also enjoy writing him during more somber occasions. It brings out this interesting, sensitive side of him and there's definitely a lot to explore there. 
> 
> He's not a jaded brooding angst wagon, but he is a character who's gone through a lot and lives in a tragedy-filled world. At his core, he's a ball of sunshine, and he's just trying to hold onto that no matter how dark his world gets. 
> 
> Does this make sense? I'm just rambling.


End file.
